The Volkswagen emissions cheat scandal

Click on image to visit Volkswagen Emissions Scandal magazine

When the Volkswagen emissions scandal first blossomed as a front page news item, I was busy preparing a workshop on Rationalization and Corruption for a group of internal auditors. Presenting for internal auditors is very rewarding, because these people really care about reducing fraud and corruption, and are highly motivated to search out tools and strategies to reduce corruption inside their own organizations.

Emergence of the VW Emissions Scandal

In 2013 a U.S. group called the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) decided to compare popular diesel-fuelled vehicles’ performance in emissions testing to on-the-road performance in the U.S.A. They had previously tested European automobiles, and expected to find that US emission levels would be lower, corresponding to stronger emissions standards in the United States. When the VW results came in, they discovered the VW had on-the-world emissions levels as much as 35 times the performance in the testing lab.

Shortly after the EPA allegations surfaced, on September 21 Martin Winterkorn, chair of the VW Group, responded to the EPA allegations by announcing he was “deeply sorry” VW had been shipping diesel vehicles with software settings designed to recognize when emissions were being tested and turn on emission controls, while also giving false readings indicating that the vehicles were compliant with nitrous oxide requirements when they were NOT. When the vehicles were not in the emissions testing mode, the software was set to turn off emissions controls so that the vehicles would show better fuel efficiency.

Winterkorn announced that VW would respond with “transparency and urgency” and ordered an external investigation. Two days later, he resigned as chair of the VW Group, saying that VW needs a “fresh start.”

Shares of VW, previously the largest auto manufacturer in the world, plummeted in late September, losing as much as 30% of their market value, and VW has been scrambling to deal with organizing massive recalls around the world amid management changes, while attempting to regain the credibility and trust they had previously enjoyed, and resolve the emissions fraud problems.

Who knew … and when?

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering who did know, and WHEN they knew. And, of particular interest to me, what went on inside the heads of those people responsible for beginning what VW itself admits was fraudulent misrepresentation of the truth about VW’s diesel emissions?

A report appeared in the German language publication Billd am Sonntag explained from an engineer’s viewpoint how the emissions-cheating software came about. For those (including me) who aren’t fluent in German, The Verge summarizes some of the details, including the following translation of a portion of the German article…

The paper additionally claims that engineers couldn’t match former CEO Martin Winterkorn’s promise in 2012 that by 2015, carbon dioxide emissions from the company’s vehicles would be 30 percent lower than they were in 2006. Employees, fearing the results of undershooting expectations, apparently decided to doctor the emissions tests instead. (The Verge)

As more answers to the who, what, why, and when questions about the emissions scandal emerge, I’ll be adding articles to The Fraud Chronicles Volkswagen Emissions Scandal magazine on Flipboard.

1 thought on “The Volkswagen emissions cheat scandal”

VW must be punished, but let’s also try to fix the adverse air conditions with the solution. So how about if the Clean Air Act allows $39,000 punitive damage per car sold, then mandate all of the VW owners to turn in their car within a year, and VW will give them a $39K coupon applicable towards a Leaf, a Volt, or a Tesla? To some degree the air pollution transfers to the power plant producing the electric power, but to a larger degree we get the “bad diesels” off the road and start improving air quality.